GPS smart fence dog collar

[cjoffutt]

You get what you pay for.

The reason why your's doesn't work well is as you mentioned, "el cheapo". You get what you pay for.

When I try to train dogs that I care for to protect both them and myself, I don't go cheap.

As for the range on the Dogtra, depends on "line of sight" or if the dog is in a valley far away.

If I'm out with the dogs, they generally are within a couple hundred of yards away from me and I can see them, and the collar has always worked. Past 500 yards and if the dog is "over a hill" away from you, may not work. Learned that on my blue tick hound who was sneaky at the time LOL

Oh I agree, you do get what you pay for. Overall I'm happy with my el cheapo unit. The unit itself didn't fail, it shocked them when instructed to. Just not enough to get their attention, which I'm sure the Dogtra or any other good unit would have no issue with. When we're on our next pup (hopefully years down the road), I know we'll need a new unit and will more than likely pony up for a more expensive/good one.

500 yards is plenty of distance for us. We only have 10 acres and I try to limit the dogs to the actual mowed area of 3ish acres. Once they hit the woods it's a disaster for them, lol. Covered in mud, burrs, etc.

Truer words were never spoken.

Yup, never really known any truly dumb dogs to get into trouble. Almost always is the 'I'm to smart for my own good' dogs.

We had a dog who was smart but I guess could have been smarter. The dog had a collar that would beep when near the "fence" and get shocked if it crossed the wire. The wife would come home and the dog would be out running around. The collar battery would be dead so it was replaced. The wife would come home and the dog would be out running around... This repeated a few times.

One day she was home, the dog was outside and she, the wife, figured out how the dog kept escaping. The dog would go up to the "fence" until the collar beeped and then the dog would run along the fence until the beeping stopped, at which point, the dog knew it was go time.

I guess the dog could have been smarter and just sat down instead of running along the fence.

That dog was awesome too. That was really the only thing she ever did bad.

Later,
Dan

That is hilarious.

Our old lab used to pop out the batteries on the younger dog's collar all the time. He never wore a collar as he NEVER left the property for any reason. But the younger mutt would head for the creek across the field any time he could. You'd find the battery sitting on the cement area we parked at with teeth marks on it. Ended up having to use a tiny bit of superglue to hold the battery in so he couldn't take it out. Smart ol dog that one was.

 

[dmccarty]

This is the reasosn why when you want to "train" a dog, you have to be with them in person.

I don't trust an electronic fense I (would make no sense on our property to boot) but a "real" fence. Even with a real fense, if you aren't watching the dog personally 24/7 or have a camera to do so, you will be amazed at what they can figure out.

Dogs can be smarter than you think.

The dog was trained but for some reason she would run off at that place.

The dog never, ever ran off any place she lived.

Later,
Dan

 

[NorTracNY]

I spent time reading a lot of the Amazon reviews on the wireless systems. As expected, lots of reviews were people complained about the "fence line" moving over 20feet. They had trouble marking it. Many reported testing it and found they they could go to the "beep" and it would start shocking until they were almost back the the transmitter! They never moved farther from the transmitter than the first beep!

I personally use the manual training collars. I use to buy the expensive ones, Dogtra @ Sportdog, but this time tried an el cheapo - DogSpy. I must say that I'm happier with this cheap one! They all have batteries that don't last more than 2-3days, but the DogSpy has more features and it designed better for 2 dogs.

It sounds like a physical fence or buried wire are the best possibilities unless you want to go big money on GPS. I've had dogs lose collars before, I couldn't spend over $1000 on a collar.

 

[Sigarms]

I personally use the manual training collars. I use to buy the expensive ones, Dogtra @ Sportdog, but this time tried an el cheapo - DogSpy. I must say that I'm happier with this cheap one! They all have batteries that don't last more than 2-3days, but the DogSpy has more features and it designed better for 2 dogs.

Curious if you got the brand names mixed up as I couldn't find a DogSpy collar, but did find a Petspy collar.

How long did you have your Dogtra collar?

My first transmitter got busted (my fault, long story with the truck) after about 7 years, so I just figured I'd buy another 2 set collar and transmitter as it was worth it (I did have to replace the chargable batteries about 5 year in on the first set. Now, about 6 years later with the second set the collars and transmitters still work fine and still don't need to get another set of those chargable batteries (propiatary to Dogtra I believe, but the cost wasn't bad IMO)

Generally the designated collars get put on around 0500, and taken off before bed around 10 at night. Generally each collar and transmitter will hold a charge for 2 days use, which totals 34 hours without a charge.

I do know looking at the Petspy, with they only have 15 "Shock levels" and I've been more than happy with "127" levels that the dogtra comes with. Never ever had to go over the "45" level with any large dog. Please note, you have a "nick" shock mode, a constant shock mode, and a vibrate. Generally when training, the nick mode for shock is all you will need.

We tried a cheaper one before the dogtra, but I think it wore out within the first year and after that, been happy since.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

About 3 years ago, when we moved out to the country, we bought this one

https://amzn.to/3BiuS4W

Garmin Alpha 100. We bought an extra collar so both dogs could be on the system. (One dog has since passed on). I know that you can set boundaries for it, I have just used it to condition the dogs to stay within 300 yds of our home. We have a Podenco. Spanish rabbit dog. They are sight hounds and notorious for having poor recall but his recall is excellent now.

 

[NorTracNY]

Curious if you got the brand names mixed up as I couldn't find a DogSpy collar, but did find a Petspy collar.

How long did you have your Dogtra collar?

My first transmitter got busted (my fault, long story with the truck) after about 7 years, so I just figured I'd buy another 2 set collar and transmitter as it was worth it (I did have to replace the chargable batteries about 5 year in on the first set. Now, about 6 years later with the second set the collars and transmitters still work fine and still don't need to get another set of those chargable batteries (propiatary to Dogtra I believe, but the cost wasn't bad IMO)

Generally the designated collars get put on around 0500, and taken off before bed around 10 at night. Generally each collar and transmitter will hold a charge for 2 days use, which totals 34 hours without a charge.

I do know looking at the Petspy, with they only have 15 "Shock levels" and I've been more than happy with "127" levels that the dogtra comes with. Never ever had to go over the "45" level with any large dog. Please note, you have a "nick" shock mode, a constant shock mode, and a vibrate. Generally when training, the nick mode for shock is all you will need.

We tried a cheaper one before the dogtra, but I think it wore out within the first year and after that, been happy since.

Sorry, you're correct. I just checked and it is Petspy that I am currently using. I think my experience has been similar. I've bought 3 expensive brands before this current Petspy. I remember the first ones were sealed and you couldn't replace the batteries. The next two, I replaced the batteries each once. I hated the ones that have single dial for shock level. My dogs have always had vastly different levels that they respond to and I don't want to mess up the shock level with the dog. My first collars had separate power levels and buttons for each dog. That was nice, but when the batteries went, I had to pay ~100 to get a new collar.

 

[Sigarms]

My dogs have always had vastly different levels that they respond to and I don't want to mess up the shock level with the dog. My first collars had separate power levels and buttons for each dog. That was nice, but when the batteries went, I had to pay ~100 to get a new collar.

I'm a little confused. With the dogtra, one transmitter can work for two dogs. Different color code button for each button, however, the actual collar and transmitter works for different "weighted" dogs (you need to ensure you get the right "system" for the advertised weight of the dog). I have two dogtra "system/collars", one for small dogs (one collar only at this time) and a two collar system for larger dogs.

Even on the two collar system with larger dogs, generally any dog would respond to a "nick" at a 20-25 setting if I needed to use a negative stimulous.

When I needed to replace the batteries on my first dogtra collar system (where I ended up breaking the transmitter by mistake and I just bought a new one after I replaced the batteries the first time), the batteries weren't that much from what I remember, and I didn't have to buy a new collar.

 

[NorTracNY]

I'm a little confused. With the dogtra, one transmitter can work for two dogs. Different color code button for each button, however, the actual collar and transmitter works for different "weighted" dogs (you need to ensure you get the right "system" for the advertised weight of the dog). I have two dogtra "system/collars", one for small dogs (one collar only at this time) and a two collar system for larger dogs.

Even on the two collar system with larger dogs, generally any dog would respond to a "nick" at a 20-25 setting if I needed to use a negative stimulous.

When I needed to replace the batteries on my first dogtra collar system (where I ended up breaking the transmitter by mistake and I just bought a new one after I replaced the batteries the first time), the batteries weren't that much from what I remember, and I didn't have to buy a new collar.

I've had a model where there are separate buttons and separate stim levels for each dog. Another had separate buttons for the 2 dogs, but one dial for stim. Another had one set of buttons and a toggle switch to switch between dogs. I have always had one dog that responded at ~20% while another would be at ~60%. One of my dogs would just sit and itch their neck when using stim. Luckily that dog responded well to a tone.

 

[Sigarms]

I've had a model where there are separate buttons and separate stim levels for each dog. Another had separate buttons for the 2 dogs, but one dial for stim. Another had one set of buttons and a toggle switch to switch between dogs. I have always had one dog that responded at ~20% while another would be at ~60%. One of my dogs would just sit and itch their neck when using stim. Luckily that dog responded well to a tone.

My two Dogtras go up to a level of "127" per shock level.

I've NEVER had a dog within a couple of hundred of yards line of sight that had to have the level set past 50.

That said, perhaps the "level" weakens at a further distance, I'm not certain.

So we are on the same exact page, the two transmitters I've own looked exactly like the one below for my larger dogs.

I really never had an issue with knowing what collar is on what dog and changing the settings per each dog on on transmitter.

Front button on the transmitter is for vibrate, button on the side is for shock. In the image, transmitter set for "nick" instead of "continuous", transmitter set at "max" at a 127 level.

There is a time limit set on continuous so you can't have an accident where for whatever reason, you can't keep holding the button to shock the living crap out of your dog.

 

[sea2summit]

About 3 years ago, when we moved out to the country, we bought this one

https://amzn.to/3BiuS4W

Garmin Alpha 100. We bought an extra collar so both dogs could be on the system. (One dog has since passed on). I know that you can set boundaries for it, I have just used it to condition the dogs to stay within 300 yds of our home. We have a Podenco. Spanish rabbit dog. They are sight hounds and notorious for having poor recall but his recall is excellent now.

Awesome! A brand I have experience with. How much is the annual subscription after the first year?